Jake

Burger

Burger’s homer brought him up to 33 RBI this season, which is tied for third-most in the American League. He’s been hot lately, having entered Wednesday with a .458 average over his past seven games. He’ll look to stay hot following Texas’ off day on Thursday. The team next visits the Angels for a three-game weekend set.

The homer was his eighth of the season as the first baseman has started all but three games for Texas. Burger’s barrel rate is down a couple ticks from prior years, but he’s always been a streaky hitter who hits for power in bunches. Timing those can be difficult in fantasy, and his pitcher-friendly home park doesn’t help. A three-game trip to Coors to begin the week could see him heat up, however.

Burger took Diamondbacks starter Ryne Nelson deep in the fifth inning to put the Rangers ahead. It was his seventh long ball of the season and second time he’s gone deep since May 1. The -year-old first baseman came through in the biggest moment of the night when he smacked a game-tying single against Arizona’s veteran closer Paul Sewald with two outs in the ninth inning before Danny Jansen followed with a game-winning single.

Burger did get to first base on a forceout in the eighth, only to be immediately removed for a pinch-runner. He’s at .204/.238/.355 for the season. He has a .260 OBP since the beginning of 2025, which is the worst mark in the league for anyone with at least 400 plate appearances.

The 30-year-old slugger is slashing a ghastly .208/.242/.362 on the season, so taking a couple of days off to retool his swing isn’t the worst idea in the world. Justin Foscue will start in his place at first base and will bat ninth for the Rangers against Jameson Taillon and the Cubs.

Burger is hitting just .208/.242/.362 this season, and he’s sitting at -0.4 fWAR in 141 games since the Rangers acquired him prior to last season. The team doesn’t have any good options to replace him, so the plan for now is just to hope for the best.

Burger has been ice-cold of late, hitting .140 (8-for-57) with one long ball and four RBI over his last 15 games. He’s left the yard only twice since a two-homer outburst back on April 13. It’ll be rookie Justin Foscue getting a look at the cold corner with righty Edward Cabrera toeing the rubber for Chicago on Saturday evening.

Burger’s season is in the tubes. After going hit-less here, he only has two hits in his last 20 at-bats. If you zoom out over his last 30 games, he’s hitting just .172 with 31 strikeouts and a .507 OPS. Following a rough 2025 season, this is not the type of month that inspires much confidence in Burger moving forward.

Hitting .216/.248/.388, Burger is back in negative WAR territory in 141 plate appearances this year after finishing there in 376 plate appearances last season. The Rangers don’t have any great alternatives, but it wouldn’t hurt to give Justin Foscue a look. He’s hitting .287/.407/.426 with as many walks as strikeouts (22 or each) in Triple-A. Burger, on the other hand, has a 43/5 K/BB ratio.

Burger has raised his average from .232 to .275 by going 9-for-24 with three homers and 10 RBI in his last six games. We’d still expect him to wind up closer to .232 at season’s end, but even then, he might be enough of a run producer to contribute in mixed leagues.